| |
Wu Zetian (武則天
pinyin : Wǔ
Zétiān) (625 -
December
16, 705),
personal name Wu Zhao (武曌), was the only female emperor in the
history of China, founding her own dynasty, the Zhou (周), and ruling
under the name Emperor Shengshen (聖神皇帝) from
690 to
705. Her rise and
reign has been criticized harshly by
Confucian
historians but has been viewed under a different light after the
1950s.
Her family was from
Wenshui (文水), part of Bingzhou (幷州) prefecture (now called
Taiyuan in
Shanxi
province). Wenshui is now a county (文水县) inside Lüliang prefecture (吕梁地区) and
located 80 km.(50 miles) southwest of Taiyuan. Her father was Wu Shihuo (武士彠) (577-635),
a member of a renowned aristocratic family of Shanxi, and an ally of
Li Yuan, the founder of the
Tang
Dynasty, in his conquest of power (Li Yuan was himself from a renowned
aristocratic family of Shanxi). Her mother was Lady Yang (楊氏) (579-670),
a woman from the
Sui
imperial family. Wu Zetian was not born in Wenshui, as her father was a high
ranking civil servant serving in various posts and locations along his life. The
most serious claimant for her birth place is Lizhou (利州) prefecture, now the
prefecture-level city of
Guangyuan
(广元市), in the north of
Sichuan
province, some 800 km (500 miles) southwest of Wenshui, but other places have
been proposed, including the capital
Chang'an.
She entered
Emperor Taizong's harem most probably in
638 (other possible
date: 636), and was
made a
cairen (才人), i.e. one of the nine concubines of the fifth rank. Emperor
Taizong gave her the name Mei (媚), meaning "charming, beautiful", and the young
concubine became known as Wu Meiniang (武媚娘, i.e. "Miss Wu Mei").
In 649, Taizong
died, and as was customary for concubines Wu Meiniang had to leave the imperial
palace and enter a
Buddhist
nunnery where she had her hair shaved. Not long afterwards, most probably in
651, she was
reintegrated into the imperial palace by
Emperor Gaozong, son of Taizong, who had been struck by her beauty while
visiting and worshipping in the nunnery. Gaozong's
empress consort, from the Wang (王) family, played a key role in the
reintegration of Wu Meiniang in the imperial palace. The emperor at the time was
greatly attached to a concubine from the Xiao (蕭) family, and the empress hoped
that the arrival of a new beautiful concubine would divert the emperor from the
concubine née Xiao.
Modern historians dispute this traditional history, and some think that the
young Wu Zetian never actually left the imperial palace, and that she was
probably already having an affair with the crown prince (who became Emperor
Gaozong) while Emperor Taizong was still alive. Wherever the truth lies, it
remains certain that by the early 650s Wu Zetian was a concubine of Emperor
Gaozong, and she was titled zhaoyi (昭儀), i.e. the highest ranking of the
nine concubines of the second rank. The fact that the emperor had taken one of
the concubines of his father as a concubine, and what's more a nun if
traditional history is to be believed, was found utterly shocking by Confucian
moralists.
Wu Zetian soon revealed her talent at manipulation and intrigue. She first
had the concubine née Xiao out of the way, and then her next target was the
empress consort herself. In the year
654, Wu Zetian's baby
daughter was killed. Empress Wang was allegedly seen near the child's room by
eyewitnesses. She was suspected of killing the girl out of jealousy and was
persecuted. Legend has it that Wu Zetian actually killed her own daughter, but
the allegation may have been made up by her opponents or by Confucian
historians. Soon after that, she succeeded in having the emperor create for her
the extraordinary title of chenfei (宸妃), which ranked her above the four
concubines of the first rank and immediately below the empress consort. Then
eventually, in November
655, the empress née Wang was demoted and Wu Zetian was made empress
consort. Wu later had Wang and Xiao executed in a cruel manner -- their arms and
legs were battered and broken, and then they were put in large wine urns and
left to die after several days of agony.
After Gaozong started to suffer from
strokes from
November 660 on, she
began to govern China
from behind the scenes. She was even more in absolute control of power after she
had
Shangguan Yi (上官儀) and
Li Zhong
(李忠) executed in January
665, and henceforth she sat behind to the now silent emperor during court
audiences (most probably, she sat behind a screen at the rear of the throne) and
took decisions. She reigned in his name and then after his death in the name of
subsequent puppet emperors (her son
Emperor Zhongzong and then her younger son
Emperor Ruizong), only assuming power herself in October
690, when she
declared the Zhou Dynasty, named after her father's nominal posthumous fief as
well as in reference to the illustrious
Zhou
Dynasty of Chinese Antiquity from which she claimed the Wu family was
descended. In December
689, ten months before she officially ascended the throne, she had the
government create the character Zhao (曌), an entirely new invention created
along with 11 other characters in order to show her absolute power, and she
chose this new character as her
given name,
which became her
taboo name when she ascended the throne ten months later. The character is
made up of 2 pre-existing characters: "Ming" up top meaning "light" or
"clearness"; and "kong" on the bottom meaning "sky". The idea behind this is her
implication that she is like the light shining from the sky. Even the
pronunciation of the new character is exactly the same as "shine" in Chinese. On
ascending the throne, she proclaimed herself Emperor Shengshen, the first woman
ever to use the title emperor (皇帝) which had been created 900 years
before by the first emperor of China
Qin
Shi Huang. Indeed she was the only woman in the 2100 years of imperial China
ever to sit upon the dragon throne, and this again utterly shocked Confucian
elites.
Traditional
Chinese political theory (see the similar
Salic law)
did not allow a woman to ascend the throne, and Empress Wu was determined to
quash the opposition and promote loyal officials within the bureaucracy. Her
regime was characterized by
Machiavellian cleverness and brutal
despotism.
During her reign, she formed her own Secret Police to deal with any opposition
that might arise. She was also supported by her two lovers, the Zhang brothers
(Zhang Yizhi, 張易之, and his younger brother Zhang Changzong 張昌宗). She gained
popular support by advocating
Buddhism
but ruthlessly persecuted her opponents within the royal family and the
nobility. In October 695,
after several additions of characters, her imperial name was definitely set as
Emperor Tiance Jinlun Shengshen (天冊金輪聖神皇帝), a name which did not undergo further
changes until the end of her reign.
On
February 20, 705,
now in her early 80s and ailing, Empress Wu was unable to thwart a coup, during
which the Zhang brothers were executed. Her power ended that day, and she had to
step down while
Emperor Zhongzong was restored, allowing the
Tang
Dynasty to resume on
March 3,
705. Empress Wu died
nine months later, perhaps consoled by the fact that her nephew
Wu Sansi (武三思), son of her half-brother and as ambitious and intriguing as
she, had managed to become the real master behind the scenes, controlling the
restored emperor through his empress consort with whom he was having an affair.
Although short-lived, the Zhou dynasty, according to some historians,
resulted in better
equality between the
sexes during
the succeeding Tang Dynasty.
Considering the events of her life
literary allusions to Empress Wu can carry several connotations: a woman who
has inappropriately overstepped her bounds, the
hypocrisy
of preaching
compassion
while simultaneously engaging in a pattern of
corrupt and
vicious behavior, and ruling by pulling strings in the background.
The noted French author
Shan Sa, born
in Beijing,
wrote a biographical novel called "Impératrice" (french for Empress) based on
Empress Wu's life.
""General note: Dates given here are in the
Julian calendar.
They are not in the
proleptic Gregorian calendar.
———
1. Year deducted from the age at death given in the
New Book of Tang
(新唐書), compiled in 1045-1060, which
is the year favored by modern historians. The year of birth
deducted from the
Book of Tang (舊唐書), compiled in
941-945, is 623. The
year of birth deducted from the
Comprehensive Mirror compiled in 1065-84, is
624.
2. Was given this name by
Emperor Taizong in the late 630s
after she had entered the imperial palace (see inside article).
3. Had this Chinese character created in December
689 and
chose it as her given name. Became her taboo name when she
ascended the throne the next year. Some sources assert that
this character was actually written 瞾 . Some sources also
assert that her original given name was Zhao (照) , and that
in 689 she only changed the character to write her name, but
this is confirmed neither by the Book of Tang, nor by the
New Book of Tang, which both do not record her original
given name, if she had any.
4. Was already partially in control of power since around
660, and totally
since January 665
(see inside article). Zhou
dynasty was proclaimed on
October 16,
690, and she
proclaimed herself emperor on
October 19,
demoting her
younger son
Emperor Ruizong to the rank of imperial heir.
5. Lost power at the palace coup of
February
20, 705. Then
on
February 22 was forced to transfer the imperial dignity
onto her older son, restored as
Emperor Zhongzong
on
February 23
6. Zhou dynasty was abolished before her death, and she
was reverted to the rank of
empress consort on her death, so
that she does not have a temple name. In China, empresses
consort, unlike ruling emperors, are not given a temple name.
7. Zetian was the beginning of the
honorific name (徽號)
given to her in February
705 by her son the
restored emperor
Zhongzong. The honorific name was used as her posthumous
name when she died ten months later.
8. Final version of her posthumous name as given in July
749.
"" |
